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Summary

A catch meadow of probable nineteenth or twentieth century date is visible on aerial photographs of 1950 as parallel earthwork ditches following the contours of a south-facing combe slope, between Langdon Lane and Langdon Road, Dawlish. Catch meadows are usually found on combe or hill slopes and are designed to irrigate pasture by diverting water from a spring or stream and passing it along the slope via a series of roughly parallel channels or gutters. When irrigation was required the gutters were blocked, causing water to overflow from gutter to gutter, thereby irrigating the slopes below.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CATCH MEADOW (XIX to XX - 1801 AD to 1950 AD)

Full description

Royal Air Force, 1950, RAF/541/520, RAF/541/520 4010-4011 13-MAY-1950 (Aerial Photograph). SDV352112.

Linear earthwork ditches are visible.

Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R., 2013-2014, South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme Project (Interpretation). SDV351146.

A catch meadow of probable nineteenth or twentieth century date is visible on aerial photographs of 1950 as three parallel earthwork ditches following the contours of a south-facing combe slope, between Langdon Lane and Langdon Road, Dawlish.
Many catch meadow systems are believed to date to the post medieval period, although it is likely that they were first developed in the medieval period and often continued in use into the twentieth century. Catch meadows provided a simple, inexpensive and effective form of irrigation. When irrigation was required water was diverted from a source such as a pond, river, spring or spring-fed stream and passed along the meadow slopes via one or more of the gutters, which was then caused to overflow. The lower, roughly parallel gutters then ‘caught’ and redistributed water passing it evenly over the surface of a meadow below. The gently flowing water prevented the ground freezing in winter and encouraged early growth in spring, thereby providing extra feed for livestock, particularly important during the hungry gap of the March and April. The water source for this water meadow is not identified but is probably a spring towards the head of the combe to the west. The earthworks are not visible on later aerial photographs available to the survey and have probably been levelled.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV351146	Interpretation: Hegarty, C. + Knight, S. + Sims, R.. 2013-2014. South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme Project. AC Archaeology Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:1
SDV352112	Aerial Photograph: Royal Air Force. 1950. RAF/541/520. Royal Air Force Aerial Photograph. Photograph (Paper). RAF/541/520 4010-4011 13-MAY-1950. [Mapped feature: #64928 ]

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6127 - Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme (NMP) for South-West England - South Coast Devon (Ref: ACD618)

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